The Dunhams (Sequel to Better or Bad - Lizzy Walker)

Bella & the Beast

Bella POV
The bell rang as everyone left first period classes. Kaylee and I walked out to our lockers. Yes, she surprisingly goes to the same school as me which makes it all better. "So, Bels have you signed up for anything?" She asked. My fight with Mom about my song kept repeating in my head. I inhaled a deep breath and nodded my head no. "Even if I did, my parents wouldn't let me. They're too concerned about my epilepsy to let me do anything. Especially release my song." I growled. She pulled out her notebook and sighed. "Cmon Bels, they just want you to be safe. You know it'll be too much for you performing your song, doing school and keeping up with your medicine." She said. I huffed while pulling out my notebook. "You have no idea what it's like having an illness. Most kids can't really do much because they have asthma or sports because of a heart condition. My siblings aren't sick so they can possibly do anything they wanna do." I said. Kaylee sighed sadly. "Bella, you can't think like that. Don't let your illness stop you." She said. Easy said than done. She gasped, noticing a flyer on the wall and nudged me. "Check this out!" She told me. It revealed names signed up for the Beauty & the Beast play. I didn't even know there's a school play coming up. If I did, I would've signed up if it weren't for feeling crappy. My phone buzzed. I pulled it out my pocket to see Jayla's text.

Bestie😝👯‍♀️: hope you're having a better day than I am being in bed🙄😷

I chuckled. I almost forgot she caught a cold today and is home.

Bella🤭🐬: same here :)

Kaylee raised an eyebrow. "How's this Jayla girl you mentioned?" She asked. I looked up and smiled. "Alright. She caught a cold today." I told her. She hummed in response. "About this play..." She trailed off. I nodded my head no and turned away. "Cmon! Please!" She said, pulling me back gently. I rolled my eyes. "Why should I audition Kaylee? There's plenty of time if I'm- I was cut off by Aubree, Kaia and Faith rushing up to me. Aubree smiled excitingly. "You guys heard about the school play?!" She squealed. Kaia laughed. "Bella, you should audition to play Belle!" She said. I facepalmed myself. Kaylee smirked. "If you're not performing a song, you're definitely acting on stage." She said. Not sure if I rather do this but there can't be no limits to doing things because of my condition. I put the flyer back up and signed my name. Their eyes widened. "Say hello to Princess Belle." I said, smiling. "Yes!" Kaylee cheered. I laughed.

At 11pm is when auditions were starting. My history teacher gave me the ok to go. She looked proud knowing I was auditioning. I walked into the theater backstage where a few kids were. My eyes widened. Kaylee was reading the script and practicing her vocals. She's auditioning? "Kay!" I called. She saw me and smiled. "Surprise!" She said. I looked at her confusedly. "What do you mean?" I asked. "I'm auditioning to play Mrs. Potts!" She beamed. Oh. That's why she was partially pumped about me auditioning. I smiled. "Good luck. I don't know about me." I said. She scoffed, linking her arm around mine. "Don't worry, you are Belle material. Look at your face, hair and voice. You are her. You'll do great." She assured. I fiddled with my script paper. "Let's practice together." She said. I nodded as we went over a few scenes. "Bella Dunham!" They called. All my nervousness were up the roof. Kaylee inhaled a deep breath and hugged me. "You can do this." She whispered. I took a deep breath. "Ok. I can do this. I can do this." I whispered. She waved as I walked to center stage. In front were the director and our theater teacher Mr. Houghlin. I smiled. "Hi. I am auditioning for Princess Belle." I told them. Mr. Houghlin smiled proudly. "Ok. We're starting from page 3 in the script when Belle stumbled into the castle and found the Beast." He told me. I nodded, flipping back to page 3. He cleared his throat. "Belle? How did you find me?" He asked. I acted really curious. "Who's locked you in here?" I asked. "No time to explain! You must go now!" He said worriedly. I nodded my head no. "I won't leave you." I said. The director fake growled. "What are you doing here?" He growled. I pretended to being shaken and terrified. "Who's there? Who are you?" I asked. "The master of this castle." He told me. "I've come for my father. Please let him out! Can't you see he's sick?" I said. "Then he shouldn't have trespassed here!" He growled. I sighed sadly. "But he could die! Please I'll do anything!" I begged. "There's nothing you could do. He's my prisoner." He said. I looked down before looking up. "Wait! Take me instead." I told him. He pretended to be shocked. "You would...take his place?" He asked. Mr. Houghlin nodded in disagreement. "Belle, no! You don't know what you're doing!" He pleaded. "If I did, would you let him go?" I asked with hopefulness in my voice. "Yes. But you must promise to stay here forever." He said. I looked at him curiously. "Come into the light." I said. He pretended he was stepping into a bright light. I acted horrified and shocked altogether. Mr. Houghlin clapped. "Thank you! Thank you Bella." He said. The director nodded, smiling. "We'll let you know once the role sheet is put up tomorrow." He told me. I returned the gesture and walked backstage. Me and Kaylee cheered quietly. "You did really good!" She whispered. I laughed. "I honestly thought I was gonna explode." I said. She chuckled. "Kaylee Siler!" They called. I smiled. "Good luck!" I whispered. She smiled warmly before going next.

******

The role sheet was up today. Great news, I'm Princess Belle and Kaylee's Mrs. Potts! Another name was underneath hers. Wait a minute! The girls covered their mouths in shock. "OMG! Jin's playing the Beast!" Aubree said. Kaia playfully oohed. "Jin will be ball dancing with you." She teased. My cheeks burned crazily. This is absolute insane! First, I got the role to be Bella, second Jin is portraying the Beast. Belle's love interest. My jaw dropped. "OMG." I muttered. Kaylee nudged my shoulder and smirked. "Are you gonna kiss him in the play?" She teased. The girls giggled. I scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "How should I know?! We haven't started roleplay yet!" I panicked. The bell rang which meant third period. I run-walked to our class. Faith sighed happily. "Young love." She said. "Is for the only one I see." Aubree sing-songed. They laughed. Kaylee shushed them with her finger.

After tireless line-reading, stage-effects and practicing me and Jin's play kiss, the night of the play begun. Johnny portrayed Gaston which was kinda hilarious. My family was watching in the audience. Not only it makes me happy, finally everyone is attending something great I'm doing. I sang my heart through the songs and cheered for Kaylee's performance during Be Our Guest. Jin is really good as the Beast. Sometimes his anger startled me...except our scenes when Belle and Beast fall in love. It made every moment feel as if it was real. Us falling in love is real. I cried real tears in the scene when Beast was wounded. The enchantress transformed him into a prince. I admit, Jin is handsomer as a prince. The moment I realized I waited for happened. Our almost kiss. At the same time it felt a little embarrassing since my family watched. We parted, celebrating with Lumiere, Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts. The ball scene was beautiful and ended with a bow. The audience including my family applauded. Mom smiled widely, filming from her phone. I smiled happily and hugged Kaylee. She smiled, hugging back. I didn't had a single episode either. Best night ever!!